The Human Resources Challenge to Community Based Rehabilitation: The Need for a Scientific, Systematic and Coordinated Global Response

The World Report on Disability highlights some of the major challenges in the path to realisation of the rights of persons with disabilities as per the United Nations Convention. While the recently published guidelines on Community Based Rehabilitation show the way to address these challenges, effective implementation would require not only higher levels of investment in human resources, but also a significantly newer and different skill-set for the additional personnel. The authors suggest that a scientifically sophisticated, systematic and coordinated research programme, with global reach and participation, is needed for the establishment of a useful and robust evidence-base for Community Based Rehabilitation interventions. It is also suggested that the development of a new cadre of rehabilitation workers could be a key component of the programme, and could help to alleviate the extant crisis in human resources for health in many low-income countries.